Children as young as eight have Facebook pages and use other social media websites, ignoring the age restrictions, according to an official report.

27 Mar 2010

Ofcom, the media watchdog, said that one in five children, 19 per cent, between eight and 12 years old use social media sites such as Facebook, Bebo or MySpace. This is despite these sites officially having an age limit of 13.

One in six parents didnít know their children are on social networks.

The report included internet audience data that showed that 37 per cent of home internet users aged between five and seven visited Facebook in October 2009. But it did not examine how many had profiles on the site.

The figures are likely to once again spark a debate about how Facebook and other sites police the age of their users. Though these sites insist that users type in their age, there is no verification process.

Facebook recently came under criticism from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre because it has refused to introduce the CEOP abuse reporting button, which is intended to make it easy for young people to report inappropriate behaviour online.

Graham Cluley, an internet safety expert at Sophos, said: "It does matter that children as young as eight are on social networking sites. At that age they are not sceptical and very easily taken in.

"There are some pretty adult things on Facebook, for instance, not just racy content but scams and predators."

The Ofcom study found that among the under 11s, 70 per cent of those using blogs or information sites such as Wikipedia believed all, or most, of what they read.

"That's the problem. When you are that age, you tend not to question the veracity of many websites," said Mr Cluley.

However, the survey of the 747 children did suggest most were cautious about allowing people to view their social networking pages.

The poll found 83 per cent only allowed visits from friends and 4 per cent made the pages completely private.

Ofcom's annual Children's Media Literacy Audit for 2009 also gave an insight into young people's views on piracy.

It showed 44 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds thought downloading films and music for free should not be illegal.

The report showed mainstream television shows such as The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent were the most viewed programmes among children aged from 10 to 15 in 2009. Among four to nine year olds, Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor were beaten into second and third place by The Gruffalo, broadcast on Christmas Day.

Earlier this month, Facebook rejected calls from ministers and child protection campaigners to include an anti-paedophile "panic" button on its site.

Company executives said including the button on the main section of the site could deter anxious users from coming forward.

Calls for the button to be placed prominently were made following the conviction of a serial rapist for the murder of schoolgirl Ashleigh Hall, who met him on the site.

Mr Cluley added: "I think Facebook should add the button for its own reputation. But if truth be told it would not have prevented the Ashleigh Hall murder. The problem is that she thought she was talking to a fellow teenager, not an adult predator.

"And that's why it is so important for youngsters to be careful."

Facebook said it was the responsibility of parents to monitor where they were online just as they do in the real world.

A spokesman said: "Our policy is very clear, Facebook requires its users to be at least 13 years old before they can create an account. Anyone who wants to report an underage user can do so easily on the site and we will promptly remove the account, as this breaches our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which is the governing document for Facebook."